"I don't really need to say it at this point," Monokuma said, "but congratulations! You've found the culprit once again! Yep, the blackened this time's Faye Nirigiri!"
Faye said nothing once her guilt was officially confirmed.
"Faye…" Maiha said. "Why…? Why did you… choose to kill Sorao?"
Despite looking not at all happy, Maiha did not look overly devastated by the outcome. Masashi saw that she had long accepted the truth that she was the killer, and she was now at the stage in which she wanted answers in order to find resolution.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Monokuma said. "Don't you know that there's a proper order for everything? We need to hear from a certain someone first! Sorao!"
Monokuma then pointed at Sorao, or where Sorao would be, but all that was left was the stand with Sorao's picture on his podium.
"Oh, right… he's dead. All right, I guess I have to explain everything from his side, then."
"There's one question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind," Haruyuki said. "Why did Sorao wish to kill himself?"
"Why did he choose suicide, you ask?" Monokuma said, sounding merrier than usual. "To put it simply... he lost all hope in himself!"
"What?!" Masashi said. "Sorao… lost hope?"
By itself, the reason was not surprising. After all, suicide was not something that a hopeful person would even think about in the first place, so something bad must have happened to Sorao for him to choose that option. Still, given his personality and his mindset, Masashi had not expected him to try to take his own life.
"There were multiple causes behind his downfall, really," Monokuma said. "It began when you tried to kill him, Masashi. The fact that he nearly died scarred him more than he had expected. He had previously been on an ego trip, but now he felt vulnerable!"
"That's true… after that incident, he was noticeably much quieter and less willing to intrude in our conversations with insolent remarks," Maiha said.
"Still, though his ego was damaged, he was still sound enough," Monokuma replied. "But then I delivered the huge news about the latest motive! And that freaked the living hell out of him! It even got him to get all violent! Sheesh, what a nuisance he was!"
That's putting it lightly… Masashi thought. And the motive wasn't the only thing that shocked him…
"NO!" Sorao yelled, his face becoming twisted with wrath and outrage. "You… You… You backstabber! We had a deal!"
"A deal?" Masashi said.
"We made a deal after the class trial!" Sorao replied, pointing at Monokuma. "You told me that I was the most interesting subject, so you would give me an advantage! That's why the rule even exists! The rule about how no one can be confined unless that person's willing or an immediate physical threat! You put up that rule, and I lied about being the one who had come up with it, just as you had told me to!"
Masashi still did not fully understand the motive behind Monokuma's betrayal. It was clear that he had never seen Sorao as a friend, and Masashi had a suspicion that Monokuma had anticipated Sorao's reaction from the very beginning. Everything about the motive had seemed tailored to upset Sorao.
"And you know what else?" Monokuma continued. "Not long after you locked him up, guess what happened? Sayua paid him a visit and told him something special!"
It was then that Sayua tensed up a little, her body slightly trembling.
"Y-You're not gonna make me… say it, are you?" she said.
"If you don't, then I will. Don't forget, I know every word written in the diary!"
"What? Diary?" Masashi said.
Sayua wordlessly took out a small black book, and Masashi soon remembered that it was Tanjiro's diary. Monokuma had given it to her some time ago, and now that he recalled, after Sorao had attacked Sayua that day, Masashi and Maiha found her, and she had been holding the diary in her hand.
"You see, Tanjiro, that poor old sap, wrote something very interesting in the last entry of his diary the night before his death," Monokuma explained. "It's very enlightening… Sorao thought so as well, in a manner of speaking. Now read it!"
"A-All right…"
Sayua nervously flipped to a certain page in the diary and began to read out its contents. By the time she finished, however, everyone had reacted to the contents with shock and surprise.
"I… I can't believe it!" Kasumi said with amazement. "Tanjiro and Sorao were half-brothers all along?! They weren't just neighbors who grew up together?!"
"I certainly never imagined the possibility!" Maiha said. Though her face was fairly placid, the tone gave away her astonishment at this development.
"But in hindsight, it was not… completely unexpected," Haruyuki said with a more subdued tone. "If I remember correctly, there was a time when they mentioned that they had the same birthday."
Sorao blenched at the sudden negative reactions. "H-Hey, what gives, guys? I can totally make a good elder brother! I'd like to think that I've been a good elder brother figure to Tanjiro."
"I would very much like to correct your statement there," Tanjiro replied, looking more exasperated. "And besides, we're both the same age and have the same birthday. It wouldn't really be meaningful for either of us to be the elder brother."
"Whoa, wait a moment! You guys have the same birthday?" Sayua said incredulously, to which Tanjiro responded with a nod.
"It's a bit uncanny, but not that unusual, really..." Hikari commented.
"Tanjiro knew all along, but never told any of us…" Kasumi said. "It's so sad… he and Sorao never managed to know each other as brothers…"
"In the end, Tanjiro refrained from telling him this. He knew that the secret would hurt Sorao," Monokuma replied. "After all, if Sorao were to learn that the man he'd tormented for years and had even tried to kill was actually one of his kin... well, it'd do quite a number on his mind."
It was then that Monokuma eyed Sayua with a coy look. "And that's why you told Sorao the secret, even if it was against Tanjiro's wish! You wanted to hurt him, and you did it very, very well! Congratulations!"
"You… You sound very overjoyed about this," Masashi pointed out, and it was then that he thought with horror a certain possibility behind the incident. "You wanted it to happen, didn't you?"
"Wh-What?" Sayua said. "What are you talking about?"
"Monokuma wanted you to tell Sorao the secret," Masashi said, feeling more certain in his speculation. "That's why he gave you the diary in the first place! Monokuma! You were manipulating Sayua to hurt Sorao!"
"N-No way!" Takumi muttered, hiding behind his teddy bear. "Monokuma… was that conniving?"
Monokuma said nothing for a few seconds, but then responded with a scoff. "That's cute to hear from you, Masashi. But remember, it was Sayua who made that choice to tell him. All I did was provide her with a little shove in a more… interesting direction."
"Y-You bastard!" Sayua yelled, scowling as if she wanted to choke him. "You tricked me!"
"Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system another time, okay? I'm still explaining here!" Monokuma replied, waving flippantly at her. "Now, it may not have been obvious to you guys, but Sorao's mental state had… more or less fallen off a cliff since that incident with Sayua. All the attacks on his ego had really worn him down. Not to mention that being isolated in a room for days was bound to make him go cuckoo!"
Maiha winced. "I… I didn't think about that when we imprisoned him. All that was on my mind was distancing ourselves away from him for our own safety."
"And look at what happened!" Monokuma said, approval evident in his voice. "Last night, something happened to Sorao. I can't say for sure what he experienced, but he was thrashing in his sleep, and he looked pretty horrified when he awoke! It was apparently a nightmare of sorts."
"A nightmare?" Masashi said.
"Yep. In fact… after he woke up from his nightmare, he was staring at the blank walls and the ceiling for hours," Monokuma answered. "Even I was curious as to what he was thinking. But I didn't want to interrupt him, so I simply sat back on my chair and watched."
"If I had to guess… I imagine that the nightmare had been his breaking point," Haruyuki said with a troubled expression. "He must've finally been driven to the point where he contemplated suicide and gained enough willpower to go through with the deed."
"Puhuhuhu… You're basically correct about that! After he was done with his thinking, he called for me, and we had a pretty interesting talk! He asked me a bunch of questions. Of course, I was skeptical about answering him at first, but then he told me what his plan exactly was. And boy was I surprised! To hear that he wanted to take his own life! Naturally, I asked him for the motive, but he said that I could simply listen when he explained his motive to Sayua."
"Ah... that's right. Sorao convinced you to go with his plan," Haruyuki said, facing the cheerleader. "You believed him when he said that he no longer wished to live any longer. What was the reason he gave?"
Sayua scratched her head. "Well... it was..."
"Wait, you're not joking?" Sayua said, looking at the pallid musician. "You're saying you want to die?"
"That's right." Sorao sighed as he leaned back on the wall. "I had a nightmare… no… a message from the soul."
Sorao let out a laugh, though there was no mirth in it at all.
"Every lie I've told, every wicked deed I've done…
"It was all to keep the fact that my public persona was a giant lie. It made people happy. It was all for the greater good.
"But then you told me that Tanjiro and I were akin! I tried to kill him! It's one thing to try to kill a random stranger... but to try to take the life of someone who shares the same blood?"
He raised his head up, staring at the ceiling blankly.
"For the first time in my life, I felt that I no longer knew myself… I no longer knew what I was. When I saw that I couldn't even follow my own moral code, I was confused…
"And that's why I looked deep into my soul… I looked in for a long, long time…
"All this time, the truth had been obscured with my greatest deception... the idea that everything I'd done was for the greater good.
"But now that I could no longer believe in my deception... I saw it.
"At the heart of it all was… emptiness."
"Emptiness?" Sayua muttered with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
Sorao scowled, lowering his head.
"You know what's interesting? All this time, I thought an empty human being was someone who had no ambition and simply cared to live life without disrupting the flow. I thought I was better than those people, but in a way, I envy them. At least their relationships are filled with honesty and truth. At least they can be happy with their lot in life!""
Raising a foot, Sorao kicked the nearby wall. Though it obviously hurt, Sorao looked as if he had not felt it at all.
"Every deception of mine was for the sake of my persona...
"Every praise I get is for my false self...
"Practically nothing about my life is built on anything genuine!
"WITHOUT MY LIES, I AM NOTHING!"
As he made that hideous statement, Sorao kicked the wall one last time with so much force that this time, he could not help but yelp in pain, his cries sounding like a wounded animal's. A few seconds later, Sorao stopped, catching his breath, and Sayua dared not to disturb him.
Eventually, Sorao, lacking in vim and vigor, leaned back on the wall and then slid down to the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling once again.
"If only you had allowed me to keep on living in my garden of lies... then I would've been content.
"But it's too late now. I see the truth for what it is.
"At this point, I don't care whether my secrets are revealed to the world.
"Even if I were to escape from this place alive, I could never find myself at peace...
"I could never accept that my life has been built on a lie...
"And I could never, ever escape the agony of emptiness."
It was then that he turned toward her with a smile.
"And that's why," he said, "I want you to help me with my suicide."
"Wh... WHAT?!" Sayua cried out, staring at him with bewilderment.
"Do you doubt that I wish to take my own life?"
"N-No... But... why do you want me to help you?"
Sitting on the floor, his head leaned back on the wall, Sorao let out a short mirthless chuckle.
"Why do I want you to help me with my suicide? It's simple," Sorao said as he looked at her sternly. "You're the only one I can trust."
Everyone was stunned. Sorao's willingness to take his own life had already been shocking, but never had Masashi imagined that Sorao would ultimately fall to despair like this.
"I… I can't believe it… That's why he lost hope in himself?" Kasumi said.
"It's quite an interesting development," Haruyuki said, sounding more interested in analyzing the new information. "No one can say that he was blameless in it. He himself had caused his downfall. Still, there's something rather… pitiful about the whole thing."
"Sorao… he felt… empty and hopeless…" Masashi muttered. "And he resorted to suicide…"
Though Sorao had become everyone's foe, in the end, no one here appeared to take pleasure in his downfall. In fact, there was great sorrow in the air, as if Sorao had been a dear friend. Of course, Masashi did not think of him as such, but the revelation of the reasons for his suicide nonetheless brought about an oppressive feeling in the air.
"There's one thing I don't understand!" Takumi said, raising his hand. "Why did Sorao try to kill everyone?"
"Oh, that's simple," Monokuma said. "Because he wanted to punish Sayua in particular."
"Wh-What?" Sayua said.
"You know what he said, right? About how he wished he could continue living in a 'garden of lies'," Monokuma answered. "He had thought himself to be an 'extraordinary man' who could transgress normal morality as long as it was for the greater good. But it was you that told him the truth about his kinship with Tanjiro and ended his delusions. Naturally, he was angry at you. That's what he told me after you left the room."
"I… I caused all that…?" Sayua muttered. "I... I didn't mean for all that to happen! I wanted him to regret what he'd done to Tanjiro!"
"In a way, I suppose he did. But that only made things worse for him. He couldn't bear the state of his soul," Monokuma said. "So he reached a conclusion: if he couldn't be happy anymore, then neither could you. So he schemed to take you down in the worst way possible: causing everyone else's deaths by having them vote for you in the class trial!"
"Sorao… went that far for his suicide scheme…" Kasumi said, her voice choking. "He… He must've gone mad."
"And yet there was method in his madness," Haruyuki said. "Unfortunately for him, he was quite careless in his scheme near the end. Getting his hand bloodied by touching his head wound meant that he would've given himself away with blood on the chest even if everything had gone according to plan."
"Still, it was that mistake of his that allowed us to figure out that he didn't succeed in the end," Masashi said. "Instead, the culprit was…"
It was then that everyone looked at Faye.
"I guess it's my turn to explain," she said resignedly. "Go ahead and ask me anything. I don't really have anything to hide at this point."
"Then let me ask you this," Maiha said at once. "Faye… when the opportunity to kill Sorao arose, why did you take it?"
Despite her earlier reassurance, Faye looked hesitant now, saying nothing for a few seconds.
"Faye?"
"Well… I'll be honest with you: since the very beginning of the killing game, I've… felt worse and worse about myself. As the Ultimate Patissier, I'm supposed to be extremely skilled in my abilities. And I can show it! I've won every competition I've entered, and I've gained international fame! I'm supposed to pride myself on that!"
"And yet?" Haruyuki said.
Faye heaved a sigh, her shoulders sagging. "And yet… I've never managed to rid myself of this awful feeling… this feeling that I've not actually earned my accomplishments. I've had my naysayers and skeptics ever since I began to become popular, and I've tried to ignore them. But the more I think about it… the more I wonder whether they have a point. And soon, I couldn't help but feel that I didn't actually deserve to be an Ultimate. Maybe it was a mistake for me to be called the Ultimate Patissier!"
She clutched her head, the misery on her face growing.
"I couldn't help it… I didn't want to feel this way. But I couldn't let the world see me like this! That's why I tried to act as if I were completely confident in my abilities! In a way, I was constantly lying to the world. But if others complimented me, if others praised me, if others saw me as strong and worthy of my fame, then... maybe my lies would no longer be lies..."
"With that kind of attitude, it doesn't seem like your confidence's in a steady position..." Haruyuki remarked.
Faye bit her lip. "The whole killing game has been nothing but an awful nightmare... First, the horrible murders, then Arashi's death…"
She set her right hand on her face, looking pale. "So many times had I wanted to cry… Every time, I had to remind myself that I have to stay strong, even though I found myself hurting from the pain of the killing game more than I had expected. I had to remind myself that despite everything, I still needed to keep showing pride in my cooking."
"Oh, but that was your great weakness!" Monokuma said. "Despite your attempts to overcome that weakness of yours, you truly were shocked when you heard the motive, weren't you?"
She nodded, her frown evincing her gloom. "When I heard that Monokuma would soon reveal our secrets... I just couldn't believe it. Until then, I had thought that there was a chance that I could resist all the temptations Monokuma threw our way. But once I heard those dreadful words… this feeling of unease clung to me, and I couldn't get rid of it! I was worried… so worried… if my lying came to light, the world would finally see me as ridiculous, laughable, and weak!"
Her face grew slightly blue as soon as she uttered those last words.
"Faye… why?" Maiha said, looking at her with pleading eyes. "If that was how you felt, why didn't you listen to what I advised you to do? If you felt that insecure about your own talent, why didn't you try to find confidence in the title bestowed upon you? Titles are a form of acknowledgement of your talent!"
"Because a title means nothing!"
"Wh-What?" Maiha said, looking utterly surprised at the disdain in her voice.
"A title is just that: a title! What use does it actually have? Nothing! It's meaningless!" Faye answered, raising her voice. "No... there is one thing. My title... my title of Ultimate Patissier... it has served as nothing more than a burden on my soul!"
Maiha gasped, looking utterly mortified as she covered her mouth with her hands. "I… I never thought you'd see your title that way… I...!"
Having looked cross for a moment, Faye grew sorrowful once more in her countenance.
"I'm sorry, Maiha… I knew you meant well with your advice, but I never found it to be useful for long. That's why… I decided that I had to stop putting off my plan to win the killing game."
"'Putting off'?" Masashi said. "Doesn't that imply you were planning to kill anyway?"
Faye nodded. "Not that I was certain about it, but I never ruled the option out. Do you remember that long before the motive, Monokuma had us play Planet Explorer and gave me the bonus reward of asking him a question?"
"That's right. You asked Monokuma for the password to the founder's chest," Haruyuki answered. "And you chose to hide that fact from us."
"But why, Lady Faye?" Takumi asked.
Faye sighed, lowering her head. "Honestly, when Monokuma told me to ask him a question, I couldn't help but think of the founder's chest. He had told us about it not that long ago, but I'd grown curious about the contents, so I asked him for the password. I thought it might prove useful to me one way or another."
"When did you open it for the first time?" Masashi asked.
"Not long after you tried to kill Sorao, and everyone was flustered and shocked at that," Faye answered. "I slipped away to the Simulation Room and opened the chest. There, I found the keycard to the secret passageway and explored the passageway for myself. I immediately thought of a way to use it for a murder plot."
"And that is?"
"I could have someone go with me to the Simulation Room by riding the roller coaster," she said. "Then I could kill that person there by using the smoke machine and escape through the secret passageway. Since the roller coaster would be stuck on the Simulation Room side, none of you would be able to conclude how I'd managed to flee from the Simulation Room floor. It'd be the perfect crime!"
"And that's why you lied to us about what you had asked Monokuma," Haruyuki concluded. "You had discovered a way to end this killing game easily if need should come, and it would be advantageous of you not to let us know about it."
"That's right… Let it be known, though, that I didn't want to do it. It was only meant to be a last resort," Faye said. "I… I'm ashamed to admit it, but for the last few days, I'd been wavering between going through with my murder scheme and doing nothing. Once again, Maiha… I'm sorry. I really tried to resist the temptation, I did! But your words ultimately didn't work for me… so I decided that I would go through with the murder scheme."
"Who was your target, though?" Kasumi asked.
Faye bit her lip for a second before she answered. "I… I'm sorry to say this, but… it was you, Maiha."
Everyone gasped.
"You… You intended to kill me?" Maiha said, looking more horrified than outraged.
"I thought I could have you go with me to the Simulation Room without arousing suspicion. After all, we'd become friendlier toward each other," Faye answered. "Even so… I still hesitated. You'd been so friendly toward me the last few days, and the thought of killing you took a while for me to accept. So even after I thought I'd convinced myself, I still found myself lacking in conviction… so I decided to pull off the plan sometime in the evening. I wanted to spend one last day with you as a friend."
"Faye… I…" Maiha said, looking utterly speechless.
"Unfortunately for you, fate had other plans, it seems," Haruyuki added. "Before you decided to execute your murder plan, Sayua barged into the Mars Cafeteria and attacked you and Maiha as part of her and Sorao's own scheme."
"That's right… it was all so sudden. When I woke up, for a second, I thought I'd died!" Faye replied. "I found you unconscious by me, Maiha. I tried to wake you up, honest, but you were sound asleep. Then I looked around and found the note that Sayua had dropped."
"It listed the steps for using the smoke machine for Sorao's scheme," Masashi said.
"Yes… after I read it, I felt… compelled to go there. I knew that something was afoot… I needed to see what was going on without getting caught, so I used the secret passageway. When I entered the Simulation Room, I saw quite a scene: Sorao knocked out, blood coming from his head, the founder's chest somehow having been opened! I looked at the chest, and once I saw the contents, I started having suspicions of what was going on."
"And then when Sayua came in, and you overheard her and Sorao going over the last stage of the plan, you must've had a good idea on what Sorao was up to," Haruyuki said.
Faye showed a small smile. "Yes… I saw it… a golden opportunity to kill Sorao and have Sayua think she did it! It was completely unintended, but the opportunist in me couldn't resist! I stayed hidden in one of the boxes and waited for the smoke machine to run out of smoke. Then I slipped out of the box, already wearing my gas mask."
"You opened the chest and created new smoke from the materials that Sorao had put inside," Maiha said. "At that moment, you were the latest person to try to kill Sorao… in other words, the blackened."
"Then all you had to do was wait for Sorao to die," Masashi said. "You just needed to press the button on his headset to send him back to the Virtual World after he used the secret exit."
It was then that Faye shook her head.
"I suppose I should correct you in one part of your explanation, Masashi. I actually never touched the button on the headset at all."
"Huh?" Masashi said, growing confused. "So Sorao never used the secret exit after all?"
"Oh, he did. I was waiting to make sure that he'd die. But after he returned to the real world… we had a short conversation."
"Ugh…" Sorao groaned as he opened his eyes. "I'm… I'm back… in the real world… Ugh... it hurts… but I still have enough time—"
"No, you don't," Faye interrupted, staring down at him behind her gas mask.
"Huh?"
Sorao, eyes widened, looked toward the source of the voice. "No way… Those clothes… That voice… Faye, is that you? Why are you—"
"Don't bother with that question," she said bluntly. "I've already seen through your trick with the chest."
Sorao let out a weak gasp as he glanced at the tub of water that she had set before him. "That's... You..."
"The blackened is neither Sayua nor you." Faye felt sweet satisfaction from seeing the shock on his face. "Now you know who your killer is."
"Ah…" he replied, his expression looking more and more pained. "I can't believe it… my last trick…"
It was then that the pain in his face was suddenly replaced with mirth as he let out a hollow chuckle.
"So this is how it ends... I've failed…
"I can't even kill myself…
"And it was you of all people who would finish me off…
"Aha...
"Ahahahaha…
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Faye grimaced, though Sorao could not tell because of the gas mask. "You seem to be taking this awfully well."
Sorao stopped laughing, but a smile remained on his face.
"I've lost everything at this point. What else can I do but laugh?"
"Lost everything?"
"Yes… I've lost my life, my world," he answered, his merry tone waning. "My world was built on my false self… But I had lied so much that even I had failed to realize it… But when I tried to kill Tanjiro, I committed a grave misdeed… so grave that I cannot lie to myself anymore. My life, my world… they vanished once I saw the truth that lay in my soul. And now… I have nothing… I am an empty human being."
Faye did not fully understand his words, and yet she felt no need to ask further. Something about his voice was enough to convey his feelings of despair.
"It's funny… now that I'm about to die," he said with a contemplative tone, "I feel a slight doubt about my choice… is it the right answer to embrace death?
"Even if I am an empty human being… is there some way to get rid of my emptiness?
"Is there a way for me to learn to love the world once more?"
He sighed as he leaned back on his chair with a lifeless groan.
"Well, it's too late for me now… I'll never have the opportunity to learn the answer."
It was odd. She did not like the man at all after every horrible thing that he had done in this killing game. And yet, the very sight of him in his last moments caused her more grief than relief.
"Oh, yes... you wish to leave this room, yes? One of the keys to this room is in my pocket," Sorao added. "Get the key once my heart no longer beats. Although... I have a feeling that you won't get away with this."
"What?!" Faye said. As soon as she showed even a hint of anger in her voice, Sorao smiled.
"My gut tells me that you'll be caught. The others have managed to see through so many lies and survive throughout this entire killing game. Do you honestly think that you can lie well enough to deceive them?"
"I..."
Faye suppressed her groan, this awful feeling of insecurity returning to her.
"I'll prove you wrong..." she muttered. "I won't let you have the last laugh."
Sorao chuckled. "We shall see about that. Now... I think that's enough conversation for us both."
As soon as Sorao said those words with such finality, the anger and frustration in Faye subsided, and in its place was sorrow once again. It was odd that she should feel sorry for him now, but this whole situation struck her as horrible for everyone involved.
"Sorao… are you… not afraid of what's about to come?"
Sorao looked at her with dull eyes.
"Of course I am… even though I accept it, deep down, there is some fear remaining in me. That's why I've chosen the virtual world as my death place. That way, I can lie to myself one more time."
Sorao then set his right hand on the button that would launch him into the virtual world. He looked up at Faye with one last smile.
"Any last words for me?"
"Yeah... just one thing: you thought that you could lie to everyone forever, to the point that your whole self became a lie… but now you're about to die as part of a mad, irrational, and... awful suicide plot. You're far from being the embodiment of a lie."
"'The embodiment of a lie'..."
Sorao chuckled again, but there was no smile on his face, the hollowness in his eyes a constant fixture.
"I do not think that a person like that truly exists. And even if one exists... I imagine that he must be a very lonely person."
As soon as he said those words, he pressed the button, and all movement from his body ceased.
"And that was that," Faye said. "I waited until his heart beat no more."
"So… that was his final moment in the real world?" Kasumi said.
"He certainly sounded more… contemplative than I had expected," Maiha said.
"By the way…" Haruyuki said, "Monokuma, what did Sorao do in the last moments of his life? What did he do in the virtual world?"
"Oh, so you wanna know, huh?" Monokuma said. "Well, sure, I guess I can show you. Not that it's gonna help you in any way."
All the monitors in the courtroom turned on, and they all showed the same thing. What was seen was a patch of land amid the forest that the game started in. Nothing about this patch looked significant at all. But soon, a figure appeared, and it was Sorao. He lay down there, looking heavenwards with the serenest expression, as if he were merely trying to fall asleep. For a second, Masashi thought that Sorao had died during this, and what they now beheld was his corpse, but the few signs of breathing from Sorao refuted this.
Eventually, without warning, Sorao disappeared, his body disintegrating into light, and nothing was left of him, as if he had never been.
"Wh-What the?" Masashi said.
"That moment you have just seen is the very moment when his body in the real world reached death," Monokuma explained. "The virtual world system picked it up immediately, so it removed his avatar."
"I wonder… I wonder what it was like, the very last second of his life, the moment when his soul beheld death," Haruyuki said. Though his remark was of his usual speculative nature, yet this time he looked utterly stupefied and clueless.
Masashi tried to imagine it.
Had it been sweet and peaceful?
Or had it been tormenting and agonizing?
All that he knew for certain was that he must have felt quite lonely.
"And that's it!" Monokuma announced as the monitors turned off. "I believe that's about it for explanations! Now it's time for everyone's favorite part: the execution!"
Faye sighed resignedly. "I… I guess that's it for me… The only thing that awaits me now is death."
"Faye… once again, I'm sorry that my words failed you!"
For the first time, tears popped up in Maiha's eyes.
"If only I had realized what you were thinking… Oh, how I've failed you as… as a friend!"
"Oh, Maiha… You don't need to fault yourself…" Faye said, looking quite sorry herself. "In the end, you meant well, and I chose this path for myself."
Maiha said nothing more, but it seemed to be more out of inability than out of choice.
"I-I can't believe this is happening!" Kasumi said, her voice shaky. "Why… Why does this have to keep happening?"
Sayua muttered something, her face a mixture of shame and fatigue. Faye waited a few seconds more for her to continue, but nothing else came from her mouth. Nonetheless, it seemed that her face was enough to convey that which was not spoken.
"Oh, Lady Faye!" Takumi whimpered. "You killed Sorao… and now you have to die! You deserve a much better ending!"
"Takumi… I know my words may not mean much, but I… I'm sorry for all the awful things that I've said to you before," Faye said sorrowfully. "I lashed out at you to hide my own insecurity… it was shameful of me to act like that."
"It's okay…" the storyteller replied. "Please… tell me. Tell me what kind of character you want to be in my tales."
"Oh, a character?" Faye said, sounding somewhat intrigued. "Well… it's not that creative, but make me a cook that everyone respects. I don't have to be the best… I just want… to be respected."
Takumi sheepishly nodded. "All right…"
"I may not show it all that well, but I'm sorry to see you go," Haruyuki said. "I must say that I've enjoyed your pastry treats. You certainly have made every meal flavorful and exquisite."
"Th-Thank you," Faye said, her face lightening up from his last compliment. "You know… thinking about this, I don't feel so afraid toward dying anymore. Maybe once I leave this world, I'll get to see Arashi again, and I can cook him all the delicious treats that he wants… Ah, won't that be lovely?"
"I'm sorry, Faye…" Masashi said, feeling a mix of anger and sorrow. "I… I still don't understand why all of this is happening to us… You don't deserve to die… And neither did the others."
"I wish I could learn the truth about our circumstances… Sadly, I won't be with you when you do."
She looked serene for a few seconds before she let out a gasp. "Oh, that's right! I suppose there's one more thing I should tell you."
"Wh-What is it?" Kasumi said.
"Do you remember the hidden scanner in the library? I thought that the keycard I got from the founder's chest might work on it, so I went there at one point and tried to use it. Unfortunately… it didn't work."
"It didn't?" Masashi said.
"No… and that was when Monokuma appeared and told me that only the 'master keycard' would work."
"Puhuhuhu! That's right!" Monokuma chimed in. "The hidden room in the library is very special, you see! In fact, it's the only room in this entire amusement park that requires the master keycard!"
Takumi gasped. "Wh-What did you just say?!"
Haruyuki looked at him with suspicion. "That's quite important information you've just given out. Why have you chosen to tell us that so freely?"
"Hmph. I don't really care. It's not like knowing it will help you in any way," Monokuma said. "You may have the keycard that Faye got, but you can't even access the room with it! It's pretty much useless!"
"'Useless'... Ah..." Faye turned toward her executioner. "All right, then… I've said all that I wanted to say. Monokuma… get it over with already."
"Puhuhuhuhuhu! As you wish!
"Now then, I've prepared a special punishment for Faye Nirigiri, the Ultimate Patissier! Let's give it everything we've got! It's… PUNISHMENT TIME!"
Faye hung her head down.
"If only... I had learned to accept my own insecurity…" she muttered. "Then maybe… I would have had hope for my future…"
Monokuma took out his red button and slammed down on it hard with his mallet. The screens lit up, showing Monokuma's sprite pulling Faye's to the right.
"GAME OVER," the screen showed. "FAYE HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!"
Faye, having been drawn to her execution site, was strapped to the inside of a large bowl being moved along a conveyor belt.
The scene appeared to be the inside of a factory, the walls of a light gray color. Alongside the conveyor belt were several Monokuma workers, all of whom were clamoring and staring keenly at her as the bowl approached them.
The screen on the monitors then showed the title card with a yellow background. It read:
How to Make a Cake like a Master Chef
Ultimate Patissier Faye Nirigiri's Execution: Executed
Faye shuddered as she heard one Monokuma blow a whistle, directing the others to begin working. All the workers began to rush around and gathered all sorts of ingredients strewn throughout the floor, everything from butter and eggs to sugar and oil. The Monokumas poured the ingredients into the bowl, with another group of Monokumas lowering a great mixer into the bowl and using it to stir the contents, splashing Faye with the liquids in the process.
Next, the Monokumas lined up, eggs at hand, and threw them one at a time. Each time, a nearby Monokuma used a mixer to beat the eggs, and in the process, Faye was struck by the blade, yelping after each strike. After several eggs had been dumped into the bowl and beaten, her face looked quite bruised, and the mixture had started to look like an overgrown mass.
Afterwards, the Monokumas shuffled around the floor once more, gathering bags of flour and baking powder. They tossed them into the bowl rather freely, Faye coughing rather violently when she had breathed some of them in. By the time the workers were done, the mass had looked messily white.
There was one more step. At the end of the conveyor belt appeared to be a giant oven. Faye let out a cry of horror. Was she about to be baked alive? And the cake was nowhere near ready to be baked, to boot.
As the bowl moved into the oven, a few Monokuma workers jumped onto the conveyor belt and entered the oven as well. Once the oven was closed, it began to light up, though what was happening inside was covered by a curtain over the oven. All that could be heard were the Monokuma workers' yelping and shuffling about.
After a few seconds, however, the oven opened up from the other side, the conveyor belt continuing there. All the Monokuma workers ran out. Then something else came out from the oven: a white plate with an utterly exquisite looking slice of white cake, Faye sticking out of the cake from top to bottom. Somehow, the Monokuma workers had turned an undelightful mass into this refined pastry.
The conveyor belt continued to move, however, as that was not the end. No, what awaited her at the end was nothing more than a giant Monokuma, wearing a bib and holding a fork and knife. It did not take Faye even a second to see what he planned to do with her.
The conveyor belt stopped once the plate was right before the hungry guest, who looked beyond gleeful at his meal. He cut off a slice of the cake, though thankfully no part of her was cut off, at which fact Faye let out a sigh of relief.
He slowly placed the piece into his mouth.
Once it entered his mouth, however, the joy in his face vanished at once, and he spat out the piece, crying out in disgust. However pretty the workers had made the outside look, once the guest had partaken of the food, the lie was exposed, and all that was left was the truth, empty of all flavor.
A new feeling of rage appeared on the giant Monokuma's face, and he glared down at his inedible meal.
Growling, he lifted up his right foot.
As soon as she saw it, Faye shut her eyes, having stopped squirming and resigned herself to her fate.
The giant Monokuma stomped on the whole slice, causing it to be splattered with blood.
He lifted up his foot, only to slam down on the slice again and splattering it with even more blood.
And then he did it again and again, the interval between each stomp growing shorter and shorter, and he stomped so quickly that it became hard to see his foot in such swift motion.
Eventually, the stomping stopped, and what was left was barely recognizable as the remains of a smushed cake slice. A certain mass covered in bloody cream lay amid the remains, a heavily bruised hand sticking out from there.
And thus ended Faye Nirigiri's final meal.
"Puhuhu… PUHUHUHUHUHUHU!" Monokuma laughed. "Now that was a fun one! Baking the Ultimate Patissier into a cake, only for her cake to be terrible as sin… Why, that's some delicious irony right there!"
No one said anything at first. It was not that they were not disgusted by it. No, there was plenty of disgust to read on their faces. But there was also an element of fatigue as well. They had been outraged and horrified many times already, and by this point, they had accepted their powerlessness. It was too much effort to show opposition.
"Oh… Faye…"
Maiha broke the silence with her sorrowful whimper. At this moment, she looked rather weak and vulnerable, a far cry from her usual proud self.
"This is cruel… beyond cruel…" Kasumi said, sounding as if she were on the verge of tears. "Why… Why is this happening to us?!"
"You guys have asked that again and again, and look at where that's gotten you!" Monokuma said. "Honestly, it's gotten pretty old. Who might have guessed that hearing the same thing again and again isn't so fun after all?"
"And now there are only six of us remaining," Haruyuki muttered. Though his face showed no outrage, his voice was quiet and cold, bearing a hint of resignation.
"And we began with eighteen…" Sayua said quietly.
"I-I don't wanna be the next to go!" Kasumi cried out. "Oh, will this killing game ever end?!"
"Who knows? It depends on what's decided," Monokuma remarked.
"What?" Masashi said, looking at him curiously. "What do you mean, 'decided'? Are you saying that this killing game could come to an end soon?"
Monokuma chuckled. "I wouldn't put it that way, but… something may change, depending on the next decision."
"The next decision by the mastermind, I assume," Haruyuki replied.
"Well, if this killing game goes on, then you'll just have to bear with it!" Monokuma said. "But I see nothing but a happy future lying in store for us, now that Sorao is gone!"
"Sorao… You must be pretty happy that he's dead," Masashi said.
"Funny, I thought that he would be the kind of person that you would like," Haruyuki said. "He certainly was rather intelligent and cunning."
"He really left that impression on you? Well, even though he was intelligent, I say he was a fool!" Monokuma said merrily. "He always thought that he could gain the advantage from his craftiness. But really, he was one naive guy. Take, for instance, his scheme of getting Maiha killed by using the idea of locking up the mastermind."
"See, I wanted to find a way to get rid of you," he answered glibly. "I figured that if the others thought that you were the mastermind, they would lock you up. Even if you were not the mastermind, I figured that the real mastermind would choose not to do anything. That way, the paranoia among us would rise, and they would soon reason: nothing has happened ever since we locked her up, so she must be the mastermind! What do you think would have happened next?"
"I imagine that the most paranoid of us," Haruyuki answered, "would have reasoned that to end the killing game, one must simply kill Maiha, the supposed mastermind."
"Exactly!" Sorao answered. "Maiha would have been killed. If she had been the real mastermind, then the game would have ended. And if she had not been so, then that would've been one less nuisance and fewer obstacles to take care of. Either way, that would've been the end of her."
Maiha scowled, though there was not much anger in her expression. "That man… he tried to kill me indirectly using that crafty trick of locking me up and having people suspect that I was the mastermind…"
"Well, he got one thing wrong," Monokuma replied. "The trick would have worked on anyone except the mastermind."
"What? What do you mean?" Masashi asked.
"Sorao assumed that if the real mastermind had been locked up, then the mastermind would've been unable to continue operating the killing game. And since nothing would've happened, everyone would've assumed that the one locked up was the mastermind. But that assumes that the mastermind was actually trapped in the room."
"You mean, the mastermind could not have been trapped in the room in the first place?" Haruyuki said.
"Of course not! Don't you remember: I have the power to unlock any door in this amusement park! And that includes your rooms!"
"Ah!" Takumi said. "So… even if the real mastermind were locked in their room, they could always just ask you to unlock the door!"
"Exactly! Trapping the mastermind… Sorao was pretty careless to think that that was ever a possible outcome," Monokuma said. "He was so busy scheming against everyone else that he was blind to the flaws of his plans. If he had been a good little boy who wanted to get along with everyone else, then that bozo would still be alive!"
"He wasn't in harmony with the rest of us, I take it," Haruyuki said.
"He brought nothing but trouble to the group, that's for sure!" Kasumi said. "Even for someone like me, he was one heck of a troublemaker! An attractive one, sure, but still a troublemaker!"
"Well, good riddance, anyway!" Monokuma scoffed. "Who cares if he was intelligent? He had the potential to be suitable, but in the end, he turned out to be a dud!"
So Sorao was deemed undesirable… Masashi thought. And from the way Monokuma sounded, it seems like Brightmere Research isn't after intelligent people specifically… it wants something else from us instead…
"I've grown tired of talking about him now," Monokuma said. "Now get out already, will you? I have some work to do."
Monokuma disappeared from the courtroom, six students remaining in this killing game. No one said a word at first, having just experienced yet another loss.
Manifold emotions stirred in Masashi's heart. On the one hand, he was happy that he had managed to find the truth and lived for another day. But on the other hand, this came at the cost of another friend of his. Even though Faye had been willing to betray everyone else, deep down, he could not fault her, nor could he fault the other culprits.
In the end, the one who had caused all this killing was Monokuma, or rather, the mastermind ordering Monokuma around. Such a thought filled him with anger, which was quickly tempered with the sad reality that he could do nothing to stop Monokuma.
How… How can this come to an end? Masashi thought. Are we… destined to kill one another?
Without saying a word, the six students stepped into the elevator and headed back up to the outside. When they stepped out of the elevator and saw the starry heavens once more, however, Masashi noticed something rather different.
"What the…?" he said. "Where… where are the other ships?"
He saw the woodland kingdom, the first ship of this peculiar amusement park sailing through the seas. But the Egyptian palace, the pirates' cove, the Moonlight City, and the space station were nowhere to be seen.
"Whoa, that's weird! Where have they gone?" Kasumi asked.
"Perhaps Monokuma has directed them elsewhere, but for what purpose, I know not," Haruyuki answered. "It's strange, though… this has not happened before, except for that one time when there was a storm, and we were stranded in the Moonlight City. But the weather is calm right now."
"Maybe we'll get an explanation later!" Takumi said. "I think we should just get off this ship for now!"
No one arguing with him, the six crossed the gangway and stepped food in the familiar woodland kingdom. As soon as they made it aboard, the gangway was drawn back in, and the great black ship set off to the horizon before disappearing entirely.
Haruyuki yawned, raising his arms. "I'm quite fatigued… that case certainly took a lot of work."
"Yes… I feel quite tired…" Maiha said, her tone rather dreary.
"Maiha?" Kasumi said, looking at her with concern. "Are you… all right?"
Maiha looked back at her with no trace of irritation on her face. "I… Well, to be quite honest, no, not really… I still can't believe that Faye is dead now…"
"Lady Maiha… you were good friends with her, weren't you?" Takumi said.
"We weren't particularly close, mind you, but… I suppose that 'good friends' isn't too off the mark. Yes, she was a friend… I respected her for her craft, and when she was troubled, I thought that my words would destroy the root of her problem… " Maiha lowered her head, looking quite ashamed. "But... I failed to save her instead. I can't believe it… I can't believe I didn't see it earlier…"
"Oh, Maiha…" Kasumi said with a soft tone. "I… I know how you feel."
"You… know?"
"Yeah… Remember Arashi? I became friends with him, even if our friendship didn't last for long. And when we reconciled, I told him that he should ignore his anger and stay positive. But… that was the wrong thing. All that did was make him feel more and more tormented by his anger until he couldn't bear it anymore. He shouldn't have ignored his inner feelings… he should've learned to deal with them appropriately!"
By now, Kasumi's tone had grown quite rueful.
"I… I should've told him to be more open about himself… I learned my lesson, but Arashi didn't learn his in time! If only I'd realized it sooner, then Arashi would still be alive now!"
Around the end, Kasumi sounded as if she were about to cry. It was always painful to recall memories of the dead, but she looked like she could barely endure it.
"Kasumi… are you all right?" Masashi asked, looking at her concernedly.
"Y-Yeah… it hurts a little, but I think I can manage it now," Kasumi said before she looked back at Maiha. "So… Maiha, I get where you're coming from. I know you don't care much for me, but… I just want to let you know that I'm not ignorant of how you feel."
For a few seconds, Maiha said nothing, staring at her with a mix of confusion and shock. No one else said anything either, keen to hear what she would say, a short breeze passing by and making the night air chilly.
Eventually, the ballroom dancer opened her mouth.
"I… I appreciate hearing that from you... Thank you…"
Ah…
Masashi had thought that Maiha might have just given a short acknowledgement of Kasumi's words or perhaps walked away from the scene, wishing to be by herself. But instead, she had shown gratitude toward someone whom it was clear that she felt no good will toward.
"My, my, Kasumi. I'm quite impressed."
It was Haruyuki, who had been watching silently with a curious and amused look. Now he was clapping.
"Those are some choice words you have just said," he said. "I didn't think that you would ever reach out to her like that."
"Oh, I just thought that she needed some help, that's all…" she said humbly.
Maiha said nothing, but the expression on her face lacked her usual haughtiness or confidence. The whole experience must have been quite an ordeal for her.
"There's one more person that I'd like to hear from before we retire," Haruyuki said. "Have you anything to say to us… Sayua?"
Everyone turned toward the cheerleader, who had been mostly silent ever since Faye's execution. Though her expression looked somewhat placid at first glance, Masashi saw from her eyes that she looked like she really wanted to say something, but uncertainty in her heart was holding her back.
"I… I…" she began, her cheeks somewhat red.
"I've noticed that you have borne that expression for a while now," Haruyuki said, looking quite interested in her. "It seems that there is something troubling you."
Sayua said nothing for a few seconds, but her expression turned more and more distraught as the others silently asked her to respond.
"I…" she muttered. "I… I… I'm sorry!"
Sayua cried out with such sorrow and regret in her tone that when she was done, she looked nothing like the mean and vain cheerleader that she usually was.
"I'm sorry that I nearly killed all of you by working with Sorao! I know that what I did was wrong… but at the time, I didn't care about how wrong it was. I thought it was the only option for me!"
It was then that tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Tanjiro… he was someone… dear to me… But he's gone… Tanjiro's gone!" Sayua said, sobbing. "That's why I wanted nothing more than revenge… revenge against Sorao Mineta! And since Sorao himself wanted to die… I figured that his suicide plot was the best opportunity to kill him without getting caught!
"But... I knew it was wrong!" she continued, wiping away the tears with her sleeve, but more and more tears still came out. "That's why when Sorao said that I'd kill him for 'justice', I agreed! But that was just a lie that I kept telling myself to feel better about it! Deep down... I only did it for revenge!"
Sayua hung her head down in shame, her tears dripping down to the floor.
"I don't blame you if you hate me now..." she continued. "I deserve to be hated… I tried to kill you guys, after all. I may not have killed anyone, but it's not for lack of trying! I knew that what I did was wrong, but I did it anyway all because of my own pain!
"Something like that… makes you hate me, doesn't it?"
No one said anything at first, as this was the first time that the cheerleader had openly shown her true vulnerable self.
But Masashi had only one answer for her sorrowful speech.
"No, I don't hate you."
"What?" Sayua looked up at him with befuddlement, wiping away her tears. "Wh-Why? Why don't you hate me?"
"You know that what you did was wrong, right?" he replied. "So what's the point of adding more hate?"
"I-I… I don't believe it. You don't hate me? Not a bit?"
"Let me be clear: I'm aware that you did some pretty bad things tonight. But I don't think hating you is the right response. In fact, I'm happy that you're still alive."
"You… You are?"
"Yeah."
He smiled.
"You're one of my friends, after all."
Sayua gasped, and for a second, she said nothing, looking completely astonished.
"You... You don't hate me...?
"I...
"I...
"I need some time... to think about all this…"
Sayua left the group and headed down to the ship's lower decks.
"It seems like she's at a loss of words," Haruyuki remarked.
"Oh, but I'm sure she needed to hear those words from you, Masashi!" Kasumi added.
"I sure hope my words will have ended up helping her," Masashi said. "I'm aware that simply saying sorry to us won't erase what she's done. But I don't want her to be weighed down by her past."
Everyone wanted to rest and get ready for the next day, so they returned to their rooms. When they went down to their living quarters, they found that the lock on Masashi's door had been turned back to normal, so he was no longer a prisoner in his own room. And not only that, but Maiha also decided that there was no need to have someone watch Takumi anymore, so everyone had only their own company in their rooms tonight.
When he returned to his room, he took a shower and readied himself for bed. As he lay down and tried to fall asleep, Masashi actually felt a bit hopeful about the current situation. He sensed that Maiha and Sayua would change for the better, and since Sorao was gone, a major source of conflict was gone as well.
Perhaps the six of them could grow closer and strengthen their bond, and they could find a way to end this killing game once and for all.
Such sweet thoughts soothed him as he fell asleep.
Masashi's sleep did not last for long, however.
A loud noise awakened him, making him snap out of his pleasant dream. When he woke up, he looked around and saw nothing amiss, so he wondered whether he had imagined it. Just as he lay back down on his bed, however, he heard another loud noise. Both noises sounded like a collision, as if something had struck something really hard.
"Wh-What the…?" he said as he got out of his bed, sensing that something was off.
The monitor in his room turned on. It was Captain Monokuma, but he did not bear his usual merry expression. In fact, he looked quite anxious and fearful.
"Attention! Attention, all passengers! This is an urgent announcement!" Monokuma said. "You must evacuate at once! The ship is under attack!"
"Wh-WHAT?!"
As soon as Masashi exclaimed, the same noise as before rang through the room a third time. This time, it made much more sense.
"You must evacuate at once! The ship is under attack!" Monokuma repeated. "Go to the large door in the hallway next to the dining room at once!"
As the monitor continued to play the same message again and again, Masashi knew that there was no time to stop and think.
He had to leave at once.
But just before he left for the door, he remembered something and rushed over to one of his drawers. The only thing that was inside was a small pink camera. It was Sorao's camera, which had acted as evidence of his manipulation in the fourth trial and was now the only thing that Sorao had left behind in this world. The camera contained various photos of the amusement park, so it could also act as valuable documentation of the killing game.
Once Masashi grabbed the camera and made sure that he had his Monopad and keycard with him, he rushed out of his room. There, he saw everyone else waiting.
"Ah! Masashi!" Kasumi said. "D-Did you hear that message?"
"Which of us didn't?!" Sayua said, looking anxious. "Th-That damn announcement scared the hell outta me!"
"Indeed. I was quite surprised that my sleep should have been interrupted like this," Haruyuki said.
"Th-The ship!" Takumi whimpered, his face growing pale. "I-It's under attack! But why?!"
Just then, several more loud sounds rang throughout the floor, and this time, Masashi felt the floor shake.
"We cannot afford to stay here any longer!" Maiha said, grimacing. "Monokuma has told us where to go! We have to hurry! Now!"
And so the six survivors ran to the stairs as fast as they could. As they ran through the next floor, more and more sounds of the attack rang, nearly knocking the six down. Though the killing game had filled Masashi with feelings of fright and unease, for the first time, he was scared that his life was in immediate danger. All that made him quicken his pace as if he were fleeing from a lion that had escaped from its cage.
Once they climbed up another set of stairs and arrived at the same floor as the dining room, the six students ran to the right and found themselves at their destination. There, at the far right end of the hallway was the great door that was locked with a golden lock. It was the same door that had remained a mystery from the very start of the killing game, and now, Monokuma had summoned them to this place.
"Well, there you are!"
Monokuma arose from the floor.
"I've been waiting for you!" Monokuma said. "You guys sure took longer than I thought you would in an emergency! Geez, can't you get it together?!"
"Wh-What's going on, Monokuma?!" Takumi said. "Who's attacking the ship?!"
"You want to know who?! A group of meddling mercenaries, that's who!"
"M-Mercenaries?!" Masashi exclaimed. He had considered the possibility that the government had finally found them, but the answer left him with more confusion than relief.
"Wait a minute!" Maiha said. "Doesn't that mean…?"
"That we've been discovered by the outside world? Of course it does!" Monokuma answered angrily.
"WH-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Kasumi cried out, raising her arms.
"W-We've been found?! At long last?!" Masashi said.
Monokuma growled. "Yeah… And it's all your fault, too!"
"H-Huh?!" Sayua said after Monokuma pointed at her. "H-How the hell is it my fault?!"
"It was those damn fireworks!" Monokuma answered. "Sorao had you launch a bunch of fireworks purely as a distraction. Well, it turns out that those fireworks gave away our location! Those mercenaries pinpointed our location, even after we tried to ward them off!"
Sayua gasped. "S-So… those fireworks ended up working?"
"How ironic!" Haruyuki muttered out of amazement. "The one time when the fireworks were used for something other than reaching out to the outside world, and we end up being discovered!"
"I suppose that's why you ended the investigation early!" Maiha said. "And that's also why we saw only this ship after we left the courtroom! You discovered the mercenaries were on to you, so you had all the ships of this killing game separate in response!"
"B-But in the end, we were still discovered!" Takumi whimpered.
"More importantly... shouldn't we leave this place already?!" Kasumi said with great anxiety. "I-I don't wanna drown or be blown to bits in this hellhole!"
"Yes, yes, now that all the passengers are here, I'm authorized to release the lock on this door!" Monokuma said. "Now stand back and watch!"
Monokuma ran over to the golden lock and opened up a panel therein. Then he typed in a bunch of numbers and letters in the keypad so quickly that Masashi could not make out what the password might be. Once Monokuma stopped and entered the password, the lock opened, and Monokuma took it out of the door without a problem.
And without further ado, the door began to open.
The six students stood aside each other, watching speechlessly.
Once the door was fully open, they caught sight of what had been hidden in the room all along: two cruiser boats resting on a platform on the other side of the room. Though the boats were not particularly huge, each still looked great enough to hold about ten people.
I should've figured that there were lifeboats somewhere on the ship! Masashi thought.
Monokuma rushed over to a panel next to the platform and pressed a few buttons, after which the wall next to the platform opened up, exposing the room to the chilly night outside. Some of the rigging that kept the boat from moving was released, and the boat was then carried to the outside and lowered such that passengers could now board it.
"Come on, get on already!" Monokuma ordered.
The six of them got onto the lifeboat at once. Monokuma pressed a few more buttons before he boarded the boat as well. Now, the boat was slowly being lowered by two ropes attached to the boat by hooks. As soon as the boat was waterborne, the hooks were released, and Monokuma, sitting at the steering wheel, started up the lifeboat.
As the boat began to move and sail away from the ship, Masashi and the others glanced at the ship from which they had just escaped.
"Whoa…" Masashi muttered.
Though the ship had not appeared damaged when the six of them had made their way to the lifeboat room, only now could they see the state of the great ship. Smoke was coming from several parts of the hull. After half a minute, several more missiles from somewhere far away struck the ship once more, the sound of the collision loud and terrifying. As the lifeboat sailed farther and farther away, the great ship grew smaller and began to capsize on the port side. The awesome sight of the falling giant silenced everyone as more and more missiles struck the ship
Eventually, the lifeboat had sailed so far away that the ship was no longer easily visible, the darkness of the night making it hard to sight the smoke.
"I… I can't believe it…" Maiha said. "Th-The ship…!"
"It's being sunk into the water!" Takumi said squeamishly.
"Just what the hell was that…?" Sayua said, scratching her head.
"I certainly didn't expect that we should ever leave the ship this way," Haruyuki said, still sounding amazed at this turn of events. "How extraordinary…!"
Kasumi looked around uneasily. "Umm… isn't there a question we should be asking?"
"What is it?" Masashi asked.
"Where is this boat going?"
"Puhuhuhu…" Monokuma said, not looking back at them as he continued steering the boat. "You'll see soon enough…"
Chapter 5 - Agony of Emptiness - END
Surviving Students: 6
1. Masashi Kousaki - Ultimate Lucky Student
2. Atsushi Morokuzu - Ultimate Archaeologist (DEAD)
3. Faye Nirigiri - Ultimate Patissier (DEAD)
4. Maiha Hanazawa - Ultimate Competitive Ballroom Dancer
5. Takumi Takamitsu - Ultimate Storyteller
6. Kasumi Ayukawa - Ultimate Phantom Thief
7. Abraham Zargari - Ultimate Waiter (DEAD)
8. Futaba Inoshishi - Ultimate Figure Skater (DEAD)
9. Arashi Seiya - Ultimate Pyrotechnician (DEAD)
10. Hikari Fey - Ultimate Spirit Channeler (DEAD)
11. Sayua Tomi - Ultimate Cheerleader
12. Tanjiro Urata - Ultimate Historical Novelist (DEAD)
13. Hikari Shinto - Ultimate Nun (DEAD)
14. Haruka Minami - Ultimate Clown (DEAD)
15. Murphy O'Hagan - Ultimate Potato Farmer (DEAD)
16. Haruyuki Kanagawa - Ultimate Art Critic
17. Sorao Mineta - Ultimate Celesta Player (DEAD)
18. Mari Anzai - Ultimate Phenologist (DEAD)
And so ends the fifth chapter. Only one third of the original cast remains. Congratulations if your character has managed to survive so far. Are you surprised that these are the characters that have lived up to Chapter 6?
First, I'd like to thank Ziggymia123 for sending me Faye. She was a tricky character to work with, since she didn't particularly have much presence in the first half of this killing game and only began to be more important in the latter half. She's a somewhat tragic case since the tragedies of the killing game such as Arashi's death eroded her sense of security and confidence over time, and the final motive was pretty much the straw on the camel's back for her. Faye certainly changed over time, but sadly, this case ended in tragedy for her.
Next, I'd like to thank TheRoseShadow21 for sending me Sorao. I have quite a few things to say about him… so I'll say them later. Needless to say, he was a very fun and challenging character to write.
Anyway, next time, Chapter 6 begins! Since the killing game has gone awry because of an outside force, the survivors are taken by Monokuma to an unknown location, and the truth of the killing game will be revealed little by little!